Activision: We didn’t blacklist any sites

20. Feb, 2012

Call of Duty publisher Activision claim that, contrary to reports, they have not blacklisted any websites. It had been mooted that sites which put out stories on a Black Ops 2 were cutting off their ties with Activision.

Various sources – not least of which Amazon France, who put up a product page – have pointed toward a sequel for 2010’s best seller. One of these sites was Gameblog.fr, who told Kotaku of their ordeal:

“They tried to explain they needed us to pull the article, I refused again. They insisted again that it would seriously damage the professional relationship we had, that we weren’t fully aware of the consequences this could have, and that they had already contacted their advertising agency.

I asked if we should consider ourselves blacklisted, and more precisely if my journalist was still to attend a preview event that was planned next week and to which we were already invited. Activision said no.

They also made clear that the relationship was to be severed, all advertisement plans cancelled, games not sent, and invitations to later events cancelled as well.”

The much maligned billionaires responded by releasing this statement:

“Activision doesn’t blacklist journalists. We believe this was a misunderstanding and are working towards a resolution.”